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Teacher Absenteeism
Teacher Attendance Issues An online article from 2009, in the Indian newspaper, The Hindu, reported on the district’s response to the rampant problem of unreliable teacher attendance in Tamil Nadu . The article stated that, “The heads of schools will convey through SMS to Collector P. Amutha details of those coming late by 9.30 AM,” and that “The measure is aimed at putting an end to irregularities”. The story went on to say that, “This initiative had been introduced by the district administration after it had received complaints from different quarters…”1.This seems to suggest that progress is being made in the area of critical thinking on the part of the government in Tamil Nadu, with respect to the efficacy of education programs in that state. For example, just four years earlier, in the wake of a report spearheaded by Congressional representative Montek Singh Ahluwalia, in conjunction with the work of the Indian NGO Pratham, which yielded disappointing findings, officials in, “…Tamil Nadu refused to believe that it [the educational system was really doing as badly as the ASER data seemed to imply and ordered its own teams to conduct a retest, which unfortunately only served to reinforce the bad news”.2 A comparison of the Tamil Nadu government’s attitude and behavior regarding its approach to education in 2005 with that of 2009 leads one to conclude that there has been a change in the management of the education system in Tamil Nadu. In particular, the issue of teacher attendance is now being addressed. It may be interesting to find out if this change is having an impact on actual teacher attendance and, if so, whether or not it is favorable. It may be of further interest to learn whether or not this policy change is affecting what students are learning and how well or effectively that learning is taking place. Perhaps the new policy is having a positive effect, but according to recent data from PRATHAM (2011), while the problem with teacher attendance is being addressed rather aggressively and enrollment in Tamil Nadu for primary school age children is about as good as it can be, there are still some serious problems with learning. “Over 99% of children aged 6-14 are enrolled in school in Tamil Nadu. Despite this, 60% of students in grade 3 cannot read simple words in Tamil. Over 65% of students in grade 5 cannot read a simple grade 2 text fluently. The situation is equally dismal in arithmetic. Only 50% of children in grade 2 can recognize numbers greater than 10. 60% of children in grade 5 cannot do simple subtraction.”3 http://www.pratham.org/M-52-5-Tamil-Nadu.aspx. Another area that may be worth exploring is whether or not attitudes toward education have changed as a result of the change in policy; teachers’ as well as those of students, parents, and the community-at-large, or if the change in policy happened because the Tamil Nadu government has become more in tune with the pervasive, though heretofore poorly represented, community desire for improved education. 1 http://www.hindu.com/2009/12/04/stories/2009120451580300.htm 2 Banerjee, A., and Duflo, E. Poor Economics: A Radical Rethinking of the Way to Fight Global Poverty. New York: PublicAffairs/Perseus Books Group, 2011. 75. Print. 3 http://www.pratham.org/M-52-5-Tamil-Nadu.aspx.